Hey friends, your host Ash here, and I wanted to make a little announcement about something that I thought was really important to acknowledge.

A friend of mine recently asked me why I'm not covering the ice raids, the Epstein files, or other current U.S. politics.

And I'll be honest, I got real fucking defensive, because I felt

like they were implying that I don't care. And if you know me, I think you know that I care very

deeply, or at least I hope you know that. And that, you could say, is actually part of the problem.

My own mental health and sobriety have been pretty fragile for quite a while now.

And after recently doing a deep dive into the tragedies going on in the U.S., I had a pretty

big breakdown. And I realized something really important. Not everyone's stepping back from the

news is apathetic. Some of us are merely trying to survive. Many of us are just trying

to keep going to work or school, to feed our families, or even just ourselves, or just generally

function. And honestly, props to you if you're getting out of bed, taking showers, brushing your

teeth, or completing other seemingly small tasks in this political

climate. Sometimes ostriching or putting your head in the sand is self-preservation. I used to say

if you're not paying attention, you don't care. And honestly, I lost relationships with a lot of

important loved ones because of that attitude.

And that's not what I believe anymore.

Me and the TSFU team are not ignoring what's happening.

We are not unaware.

We are not living in La La Land. But after much discussion, we realized that TSFU has always been a place for escapeismism in a sense where you could come and hear dark

stories told with empathy and humor. A place to process trauma and the darkness of the world

with what I think is an often underutilized coping mechanism, laughter, and humor. And honestly

the current events right now, there's no way to make light of them.

...